Exeter hammered at Huddersfield

Exeter City succumbed to a heavy 4-0 defeat on Saturday against a strong Huddersfield side at the Galpharm Stadium.

It could have been even worse for City, and it was a case of how many the Terriers were going to get towards the end. This defeat will bring the Grecians down to earth after some promising results in recent weeks. City have never excelled away from home in their history, much of that invariably due to the long distances we have had to travel. However, Paul Tisdale and his team travel by plane on long distance trips such as this, so there can be no excuses on that front. It is already clear away form could be a problem last season. Whilst displaying good performances and only narrowly losing at both Leeds and Charlton, an abject display was on offer at Gillingham and again last Saturday. Our only points away from home was a fortunate 1-0 victory at Carlisle, and a draw against a poor Leyton Orient side.

An alarming feature of this season is how slow City have been in finding a foothold in the game. This was apparent at Charlton a fortnight ago where we were fortunate to hold out. This time City held out for 17 minutes, when Rob Edwards` sloppy pass left the backline exposed, and Lee Novak slotted past Oscar Jansson after being set up by Michael Collins. Paul Tisdale`s half time team talk was made much more difficult after Jordan Rhodes headed in at the near post from Robbie Williams` cross.

Rob Edwards told the Exeter Express and Echo that City were trying to hold out for the first 10 to 15 minutes of the second half before making changes. But this only invited more pressure onto the Grecians defence, and Rhodes had completed a quick hat trick of headed goals only seven minutes into the second half after crosses from Anthony Pilkington and Gary Roberts. With the game over as a contest, City somehow managed to retain some pride after holding out for the final forty minutes.

Next up is Walsall at the Banks Stadium, a match which we are capable of picking a result up from. But needless to say, we need and expect a response.